The Plan
by StormShadowz
Summary: Sakura goes off on a solo mission but when an explosion is heard nearby she can't help but to check it. We all have bad days, but the fact that the Fourth Hokage was standing just in front of her gave a whole new meaning to that expression. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! You may know me from my other story: Not Expected. I'm just trying to change the Minato/Sakura stories a bit :p we usually see a story of Sakura going back in time, but what if it is the opposite? By the way, Sakura doesn't know that Minato is Naruto's father and not even Naruto will know for a while. I do hope you enjoy this attempt and please don't bash and give me some feedback as to what should be changed or not!**

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There was nothing wrong with going on solo missions, Sakura reckoned as she stood just outside a cave she had found to be perfect for her assignment. Tsunade had sent her alone to study some herbs close to the Land of Lightning and it was utterly important that she kept a low profile at all costs, not wanting unwanted visitors knocking on her door.

Hopefully, her work was almost done and she was just waiting for the first ray of sun to show itself and she would immediately resume her investigation. Some of these plants had properties that would diminish the unavoidable effects that some poisons caused after a long term exposure to them and the Hokage was extremely curious to check if the rumors were indeed truth. Plus, it gave Sakura an excuse to leave behind the wearing shifts she had to constantly do at the hospital and it also included the three hour per day training with Tsunade herself regarding medical issues.

So far, she had come across some interesting herbs that had the potential to become something important and to bring new medicine breakthroughs to Konoha, but it was just a lucky guess. The description that Tsunade had given her of said plant was nowhere to be found and she refused to return empty-handed.

She was barely in her twenties and already felt like an old hag from time to time. Tsunade would seldom place her on thrilling missions due to the fact that Sakura was the second baest medic-nin in the village and the hokage would constantly need her to keep up with the amazing things she had to teach.

Apart from the sudden transformation from poor-weak-girl Sakura to a prestige person in the village, nothing much had changed. Sasuke was still missing although rumors that he had already killed his brother began to swim across the Land of Fire and eventually to her ears. She remembered Naruto's face when he heard the news: he was all hopeful and was truly sure his former teammate would return to Konoha. Well, it hasn't happen to this day.

Honestly, she couldn't care less for a man who abandoned his friends and village for the sake of a stupid revenge that would most likely get him killed. After all, he was messing around with more experienced shinobi that wouldn't think twice to kill him. The useless years of mourning his departure had finally reached its peak when she came to realize just how selfish she was acting with Naruto by requesting him to bring Sasuke back. He tried. He really did, but the Uchiha boy –well, man – knew far too well how to avoid being found.

Those days were behind and even if Sasuke returned, she would never look in his eyes again and heartily hoped that Tsunade killed him with an explosive blow.

Speaking of explosions.

The ground beneath her feet rumbled lightly and it was followed by a loud and shrieking sound of something being detonated. Sakura thanked her early years of missions and the years in the Academy for teaching her to always be prepared for the unexpected and that meant always have everything packed if the situation called for an immediate escape. On the other hand, she cursed her curious nature that called for her to check out what had just happened.

It didn't take her more than two seconds before she picked up her bag and assuming a careful posture as a kunai rested on her hand.

A cloud of greyish smoke rose not far from where she was standing and she wondered if someone was fighting or having some trouble. Her instinct warned her to be careful and not to get too close to the scene.

After a moment of walking lightly on the ground with her kneed slightly bent, she finally arrived to the spot.

There had definitely been some fighting in there… or some struggling for the burn patterns that painted the grass showed some irregularities. It meant someone had been in the center of the explosion…

Sakura let her eyes travel, evaluating the situation she found herself in. There was no one in sight which only made it look more suspicious. She promptly returned her kunai to holster attached to her leg and let herself relax for a minute, still trying to find some clue as to what had happened.

Of course, other rule that you were thought at a young age was to never let your guard down and it was only when she found her face pressed against the burnt lawn and a sharp object threatening her neck's integrity that she finally realized her mistake…

By default, she imeddiately tried to rid herself from the grip that forced her to lay flat on her stomach and barely allowing her to breathe properly. A few more minutes like this and the lack of oxygen would numb her extremities and she wouldn't be able to retaliate. There was a knee buried in her back and Sakura heard her spine crack in the pressure point. It was definitely a man's grip.

_Nice, Sakura._

Situations like this would happen all the time, yes. If you were a genin and this was your first or second mission… She ought to know better than to just ease her mind about something that _really_ looked bad.

The cold tip of the cutting object still lingered on her skin and although she had tried to shift her head to the side to take a look at her imprisoner, he seemed well taught when it came to having someone pinned to the ground with no space to even lift a finger.

"Who are you?"

It was a low and demanding voice that spoke. She vaguely wondered if it was some burglar or even worse; a rogue ninja. If it was the last, she could try all she wanted to fight him off, but unfortunately her area of expertise had long stopped being taijustsu or even ninjustsu and as an only-medic-nin she couldn't do much in the position he was forcing her to be.

"Let me go and then we'll talk," she said, trying at all cost not to seem too afraid.

She felt him shift slightly. "No can do, girl. Where are you from?"

"Konoha."

"Impossible," he immediately responded, increasing the pressure on her back. "Let me see your hitai-ate. Yes, turn your head."

Sakura felt the cutting object against her skin being lifted in order for her to do as commanded. She side-glanced the man and she couldn't believe what she was actually seeing: the blonde bangs that fell on either side of his face; the bright blue eyes and the hitai-ate… it was definitely the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. She grew up hearing about his splendid deeds and how he had died as hero to protect the village. He had been dead for a long time, even before she was born and if this was some sort of joke, it was a bad one. He was even dressed up in a jounin uniforme.

The pink haired woman immediately averted her eyes from his face and tried to be rational. This wasn't possible. It just wasn't. Someone was playing tricks on her mind even though she couldn't guess the purpose.

"Well, you are indeed from Konoha," he stated, withdrawing his presence from her body. "I do apologize for my attitude, but I had to be sure."

In any other situation, Sakura would rely on the strength Tsunade had taught her and punch the living hell out of him for this, but she was in awe. It wasn't a genjustsu, she was sure of that as she had her ways of knowing. So, whatever this man was trying to pull off was definitely something beyond her knowledge.

He seemed to have noticed her reaction for he narrowed his eyes. "What is it? Where am I?"

Of course… the dumb-pose as shinobi would often call. The dumb-pose consisted of a person whose identity was known, but refused to admit it and kept talking as if he or she had no clue of what was going on. Sakura had had her fair share of encounters like this to know when something just doesn't feel right.

She put on a skeptical look as she rose to her feet in a hurry. "Don't try that move on me. I'm a kunoichi and I sense bullshit a mile away."

He looked at her in a daze, incasing his rather odd kunai where it belonged. "What? I-"

Sakura's shock was instantly replaced with fury. How could she even for a second think that this could be the fourth? She had seen photos of him before and she had also heard he had been quite the gallant back then and that wasn't hard to believe at all. This could be a trick, but it resembled him as she had seen before and she couldn't help but to see some similarities with Naruto. Maybe a distant relative? No. Naruto would have known by know if that the Fourth Hokage had something to do with him.

"Look, I'm not where I was before. I was on a mission and during an encounter with some rogue-nins I was teleported here," he explained, not even trying to sound a bit secure of the rubbish he was telling her. "I've never seen you before in Konoha-"

"Stop talking as if you belong there, you cretin!" Sakura burst as she knew perfectly well what he was doing. "Whatever this is, you can reveal your true self. Incarnating the fourth hokage is very low."

"And how do I know you're not the poser yourself?" He accused shortly. "You have our hitai-ate and, truly, I don't care how you got it. I just need to get back to _my_ village in order to understand what happened."

"Your village? Who are you? A bluffer? Someone trying to gain their day at my expense?"

"Enough," he told her sharply and she could tell his temper was hitting a rough edge. "You can resume your path and I'll resume mine. Pink haired kunoichis… sure."

Sakura didn't even realize her hand had moved in his direction, but he was too fast and caught her arm mid-air and gripped it tightly. "Is that the best you can do? And by the way, I'm not hokage. At least, yet. However, thank you for your faith in me, stranger."

This made no sense. Sakura was running out of options to justify his presence and who he could really be. She had heard of a resurrection jutsu, but from what she had gathered, the rehencarnated person wouldn't look exactly as it was before, so she ruled that option out.

She let her instinct guide her and decided to play along. "Fine. We both want nothing to do with eachother and this was an unfortunate turn of events, so I think you should arrest me and take me to your village to be interrogated."

It looked like he had been caught off guard. "Assuming a guilty person would just willingly accept being taken to a foreign village to be tortured."

He had to take her bait. This was truly risky for her, but it was clear this person meant some harm to Konoha and she would just turn the cards upon arriving to the village and he'd be the one locked up in a cage. Kakashi had taught her to be original and to always have a trump card up her sleeve and that was exactly was she was doing.

"No… I am a poor girl who was forced to play this role to catch some Konoha shinobi," Sakura feigned frustration, not looking into his eyes. "I accept the consequences. I failed."

For a moment she thought she hadn't been convincing enough, but she heard him chuckle slightly. "Well, I knew that from the moment I saw your hitai-ate. A girl with your hair color wouldn't go amiss in Konoha, I can assure you of that."

Her hair always seemed to be the main cause of interest among foreigners and she kept her eyes down. "Please don't kill me…"

"I'm not going to kill you,...?"

"Sakura."

"The name suits you," he said, approaching her with a rope in his hands and bound her hands firmly together. "If you try anything on me, I might rethink what I said before, understood, Sakura?"

With reluctance, she nodded. She was doing something extremely dangerous as she just surrendered herself to a probable enemy and she couldn't help but to feel pathetic at her decision. Her former sensei would have been disappointed with her and if this turned out badly to her side, she knew it fit her attitude and she'd deserve it.

His tall figure remained static in front of her and she found herself looking downwards for too long. It had obviously caught his attention. "Don't you even think about it."

"_What?_"

"If you kick me there, I'll return the favor, little Sakura," he warned her. His smile looked too fake.

Just as she thought, how could this person be the fourth?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys!**

**I'm sorry for not being updating, but my time is little :/ however, I would like to find a beta for this story asap! I truly need one! **

**Cheers!**


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